Air conditioning condensate is a largely under-used resource. Typically it drips uncollected from the discharge pipe/tubing of an air conditioning system and undergoes evaporation after it is distributed on pavement or the ground. However, a significant amount of condensate is produced over time by air conditioning systems in both residential and commercial buildings. For example, depending upon the season, a 3 to 4 ton air conditioning unit can produce up to 12-15 gallons of condensate water per day, or approximately 1,600 to 2,400 gallons per year. If 5 million homes collected the produced condensate, approximately 8 to 12 billion gallons of water per year could be recovered, treated, and put to constructive use. For 5 to 6 ton air conditioning units, up to 17-21 gallons of condensate water per unit can be produced in a day, or approximately 2,500 to 3,500 gallons per year per air conditioning unit. With the use of reclaimed water being more urgently needed and commonly accepted for an ever increasing variety of non-potable and potable uses worldwide, it would be useful to have a compact, sturdy and durable, easy-to-install, easy-to-use, low maintenance, safe, efficient, cost effective, and gravity-assisted means by which to reclaim air conditioning and other condensates and divert them to a useful purpose. The present invention provides all of the above.
One device for gravity-assisted recovery and treatment of air conditioning condensate is the invention disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,550,264 to Cantolino (2003). It has a treatment chamber configured for holding a stack of chlorine tablets used for treating swimming pool water, or the type of bleach tablet used for laundry purposes, and an external P-trap connected between its water inlet opening and the air conditioning system from which the recovered water is derived that is configured to prevent the corrosive treatment vapors released by such tablets from entering the associated air conditioning system. Ridges in the slanted bottom surface of the treatment chamber provide support for the tablets above the condensate as it flows toward the chamber's discharge opening. The condensate does not come into actual contact with the tablets. The ridges are positioned to laterally divert the condensate flow, to increase the amount of time that the condensate is exposed to the treatment vapors for effective elimination of algae, mold, bacteria, viruses, and other disease causing agents. The slanted bottom surface causes the condensate to continue to move toward the treatment chamber's discharge opening. In addition, a removable cap connected to the top of the treatment chamber serves several purposes. It allows convenient access to the chamber for introduction of new treatment tablets, it prevents the corrosive treatment vapors released from those tablets from inadvertently entering the atmosphere, and it also seals the treatment chamber from unwanted interference by children, adverse weather, pets, insects, rodents, vegetation, dirt and other debris, and the like. In contrast, the present invention uses a combination of internal p-traps and valves within a filter assembly unit secured to and positioned upstream of the treatment chamber to prevent treatment vapors and treated condensate from moving back into the system from which the condensate was originally collected, with its filter assembly also having a removable bottom cover with a re-closable drain opening and a removable top cover that together facilitate maintenance, a float switch as an additional precaution against reverse flow of treated condensate back through the filter assembly unit, and a pressure relief valve. Thus, the present invention is distinguishable from the invention disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,550,264 to Cantolino (2003). No other invention is known that has the same features and advantages as the present invention for condensate collection and treatment, and which allows currently discarded condensate to be reclaimed for a wide variety of useful purposes.